Sophocles Antigone: A Greek Tragedy

Juliet also portrays tragic flaw, as she is very impetuous and impulsive when making decisions, leading to her demise. Therefore, an influential theme found in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is that a simple mistake caused by a tragic flaw can lead to tragedy. Romeo, the protagonist of Romeo and Juliet, faces death because of a simple flaw. Romeo is a Montague, enemy of Juliet’s family, the Capulets. Initially, Romeo is madly in love with Rosaline, but after meeting Juliet at the party, falls deeply in love with her.

‘Antigone’ follows this pattern in the numerous tragic events that seemingly needlessly occur before Creon opens his eyes to his flawed judgement. “Oh! Mistakes from thoughtless thoughts, stubborn and deadly! O men who have seen kin slaying and dying, alas for the misfortune of my plans!” (Doc A, 1275).

(2.64). She accepts knowledge of her end, and lives on with it. As these are some valid points, Creon is the true tragic hero due to his fiery arrogance and even more drastic change in character. When in a heated argument with Ismene and Antigone, he makes a furious remark to the two girls claiming that ”One has just now lost her mind; the other, It seem, has never had a mind at all,” (2.149-150). No noble or fair king would reply in that sense, as it is both disrespectful and mean-spirited.

Development of corruption morally challenges the protagonist and results in the inevitable falling ‘victim’ to the provoking surrounding forces of evil. The representation of universal notions in Shakespeare’s, ‘King Lear’ demonstrates the interactions and psychological behaviours possessed by humanity as Lear rationalises suffering as an achievement of redemption. Lear’s self-pity proclamation of his own misfortune ‘doomed’ upon him in Act III resulted from his essential failure - his fatal flaw. The consequences from his metaphorical blindness and inability to distinguish between appearance and reality whilst claiming he is ‘a man more sinned against than sinning,’ allowed a perfect opportunity for the surrounding ‘forces of evil’ to easily oppose his regime; hence, the following downfall of the tragic hero. Projection of this flaw from his actions prompts the underestimation of humanity and capability of ambition subsequent to the denial of traditional roles causing disturbance to the ‘natural world’.

'' (Richard Begam). This is the next characteristic that a tragic hero must possess (by following Aristotle's definition), a a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine – hamartia. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure. That is because of his fear of becoming like his father. Okonkwo was abusive, angry, and showing little emotion.

Shakespeare uses the idea of hubris, or tragic flaw, as the defining feature of his major characters in the play “Julius Ceasar.” The Greek word hubris refers to impertinent pride as a sense of security. Because of pride and arrogance, the character who personifies hubris always has a tragic downfall. William Shakespeare expertly portrays the tragic downfall in a character by thoroughly exposing their tragic fall. In “Julius Caesar,” both Caesar and Brutus suffer from hubris – both of them are filled with a sense of overconfidence and arrogance that leads to their tragic downfall.

As tempting as it is to admire the aura of Achilles as a great war hero, his character flaws, as outlined throughout The Iliad, prove his actions to be no more heroic than they are merciless acts of rage. Driven primarily by personal glory, Achilles will do anything for his name to be remembered through time. As great as he is on the battlefield, he ultimately fails as a hero on the grounds of poor morality, dishonourable behaviour, and a severe insensitivity towards his love for Patroclus. Achilles lead a life of malicious and violent behaviour, revealing little to no moral conduct. The death of his lover Patroclus unleashed a rage that provoked perhaps the most cruel of all his mean spirited endeavours, the mutilation of Hectors body and

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero stands as impeded by a distinguishable characteristic or character trait, which leads to his/her ultimate demise. The “flaw” in a hero’s personality has the driving force behind their demise. This characteristic is said to not only lead to the hero's demise ,but may also enable the reader to sympathize with the character. It follows that in Oedipus the King, a Greek tragedy, the tragic hero Oedipus should have some sort of flaw. Further in the text, it slowly becomes more clear that oedipus’s flaw is his own pride.

He doesn’t like people who disobeys the rules of the government. They both are tragic characters because Antigone kills herself and Creon asks for his death to the gods. It can be argued that the tragic hero is Creon because of his excessive pride and his intense suffering at the end of the play. First of all, Creon fits Aristotle’s definition of tragic hero, which is excessive pride, also known as hubris. Creon is overconfident about himself and he doesn’t listen to others.

Pride can be one of man's strongest qualities. In Sophocles' play, Antigone, the Theme of pride becomes the cause for destruction for both Creon and Antigone in the play.. Creon's Pride blinds him to the injustice he commits against Antigone and the gods. Antigone's pride leaves her no choice but to be killed because of her beliefs. They Both automatically surrender to their own hubris and demonstrate how uncontrolled pride leads to personal downfalls and destruction in Antigone.

Tragic heroes characterize tragedies because they tell the tragic story of those heroes and their tragic flaws. In the book Antigone written by Sophocles, we are met with many characters of the book, and the tragic hero is depicted into two characters, Antigone and Creon. We see the tragic death of Antigone as she took her life in the end of the book, and Creon the king of Thebes, who also faces his tragedy in the book. To begin with, Antigone tells the story that depicts the tragedy of Antigone, who also seems to be the tragic hero.

Hamartia and Hubris "It is never reason never to yield to reason"-Sophocles, Antigone. Creon is Antigone's tragic hero as well as the antagonist. Like many other tragic heroes, Creon's tragic flaw that causes his destruction is hubris, excessive pride in oneself. At the end, Creon faced the loss of both his wife and son, and he suffered from pain and regret. Although he thought he is making the right decisions, King Creon misused his power and caused the termination of others' life.

In the play “Antigone” by Sophocles, the question of whether loyalties to family or loyalties to authority are more significant is brought up when personal matters are intertwined with legal affairs. Antigone is persecuted and punished severely by King Creon because she buried her brother, Polyneices, whom the king believes to be a traitor to the city and outlawed any burials or honor for the fallen man. In this situation, Antigone is right in going against the king’s law because in burying her dear brother, she honors the promise she made to him before he died, she pays respect to the laws of God and not the laws of mere mortals, and she shows her commitment to family by displaying her unwavering loyalty towards them, even in death. Antigone is right in crusading against Creon because in essence, he is unjustly punishing her in trying to punish her brother, Polyneices.

"Arrogance is weakness disguised as strength" -Annon. In the script "Antigone", Antigone breaks a conflicting law by burrying her brother. This makes Creon, the newly crowned king, furious, causing him to make "questionable" decisions. Antigone provides a foil to Creon's character; and Thor interactions advance the theme of how blinding arrogance leads to self-injury.

In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, a woman’s individual conscience trumps state law when Antigone displays time and again that she values her divine motives higher than those of the state throughout the tragedy. Her continued defiance of the state’s authority marks the importance of her individuality through various scenes in Antigone. Knowing full well her role as a woman in a patriarchal society, Antigone goes beyond the powers of the common man to carry on morals of herself and family exceeding beyond immortality and death. Engulfed in the menacing misogyny King Creon set forth in the state, Antigone is determined to thrive and keep the sacred deeds of herself and family in tact despite the fate it bears. The character of Antigone exhibits